Ron's First Wand
by missybewitched
Summary: It is a rite of passage, really, for a witch or wizard to get their first wand...it separates the wizards and witches from the Squibs and Muggles. Watch as the youngest Weasley brother receives his first wand. One shot. Complete.


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****Thisstory was entered in the Sycophant Hex: Spring Faire Festival under**** General Story: First Wand  
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_The rules are as follow:  
1. You may choose any canon character and write a story about them receiving their first wand.  
2. Harry may not be used since we have already seen him receive his first wand.  
3. You can either write a one-character story based on the challenge, or you may write about multiple characters each receiving their first wand.  
4. You must adhere to all that is known in canon about wands. Example: If you choose to focus your story on Hermione, she must receive the wand that she has in canon (thirteen inches, vine wood, dragon heartstring core). The same applies to other characters we know about (i.e. Ron, either of Harry's parents, Cedric, Krum, Fleur, and Hagrid)_.

Disclaimer: All characters and shops and wands are the wonderful inventions of J.K.Rowling.

Ron's First Wand

My bell, ancient as it is, nevertheless tinkled as gaily as I'm sure it did when the shop first opened centuries ago. A high-pitched voice followed and I'm not surprised that I could hear it all the way back here in the depths the workshop that is also my sanctuary. I know who has come to visit because it was Molly Weasley's voice I heard shouting. Finally. I've been waiting.

It is a rite of passage, really, for a witch or wizard to get their first wand; it marked the child's official entry into the Wizarding World; it separated the wizards and witches from the Squibs and Muggles. I consider myself honoured indeed to be included in what I would argue is the most exciting thing to happen in every child's life.

I contained my buzzing excitement and carefully placed the single strand of gold-coloured unicorn tail-hair next to the branch of a particularly young willow. A most curious combination, I must admit, since I usually prefer mature magical substances for my creations. Old trees, magical creatures in their prime…I find them the more powerful combinations. But it is not to say that the younger ones are weak. Oh, no. Never underestimate the young ones for they can be surprising. However, what this little beauty is capable of in the right hand remained to be seen.

I approached the narrow door separating my workshop from the front of the shop and made my way through my various rows and stacks of narrow boxes. The air in the shop tingled with barely suppressed anticipation; it always did when customers stepped into Ollivanders'. The wands are excited, I know. They speculate what kind of witch or wizard has come into my shop, and they wondered who amongst themselves would take a liking to whoever passed through my door.

I stepped into full view of the four people crammed into my tiny shop. Three of them were talking loudly, trying to make themselves heard over the others. The youngest one amongst them was looking around my shop nervously. Ah, yes, I know these people. The Weasley brothers. Charlie, I remembered his first wand, made of ash and unicorn tail-hair. Fred and George are here too, but I cannot tell them apart. The twins were difficult customers, only one of them managed to find a compatible wand and I had to make an identical wand for the other…it was an interesting story to tell, but I'll leave that for another day.

"Good afternoon," I said. There was a jolted silence as all four jumps. I think I might have surprised them; I seem to have that effect on people. "Ah yes," I continued saying. The words that come out of my mouth are my ritual words of welcome to all my customers. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Ronald Weasley." The youngest red-head blushed and shifted towards his brothers. I think I intimidate him. I can't imagine why.

I pushed open the door to Ollivanders, holding it to let my brothers go in before me. Mum was still firing instructions at all of us. _Behave yourselves, Fred and George! I don't want to hear any explosions while I'm inside Madam Malkin's. Charlie! Make sure they don't put a toe out of line in the shop! Did you remember to bring the Galleons for Ron's wand? Is it enough? Thank you for chipping in with Bill to buy Ron's wand, Charlie. I know this is your first pay check but Percy's new robes are going to be expensive. And Ron…_ I nodded patiently at everything Mum said, but let the door close softly but firmly, blocking out her voice; Mum can go on forever if I let her, and I can see that Percy was already impatient to get to Madam Malkins. Sometimes, Mum still treated Bill and me as if we were first years when we return to the Burrow for holidays and special occasions. It is endearing, but I _am_ a fully qualified wizard. It also makes Bill and myself reluctant to bring our girlfriends home; neither of us want to be treated like a four-year-old in front of our girlfriends.

I joined my brothers in the small shop. Ron was visible nervous and the twins seem excited. They were whispering furiously to each other and I recognised the glint of mischief in Fred's eyes. Uh oh, my brothers are up to something. I almost grinned, and hastily suppressed it. I am dying to be let in on the joke, but I know that should Mum find out that I have not actively prevent any interesting accidents caused by the twins while they are within twenty feet of my presence, I will be sent to my room without any dinner. That will not do. A man needs his dinners, especially a dragon keeper.

"Fred and George,_ no_," I said.

The twins looked at me. "What?" George asked with an air of innocence about him.

I rolled my eyes. They don't fool me. I know them better than they know themselves. Hell, I've been changing their nappies for them since forever, and Bill still swears to me that Fred and George started giggling and plotting disasters the minute they were born. I wasn't at St Mungo's with them then, but I still find myself seriously believing the words of my older brother.

"I don't want any of your practical jokes right now, guys," I said. These words were quite unnecessary in more ways than one. They both know what I'm talking about and we all know how readily Fred and George disregard anyone's authority except Mum's and Dumbledore's.

Fred feigned a pained expression and started to explain that I had misunderstood them. Yeah right, Fred. Sure you were telling George how happy you are for Percy the Prefect. I tell them exactly how much I believed their story and we started a friendly argument. Hell, the twins are fun.

A soft voice spoke and we all jumped. The hair on my arms stood I suppressed the urge to rub my palms over them. It was Mr Ollivander. Man, he's scary.

_Ah, yes_, he said. _Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Ronald Weasley_. The man never changes his routines; he said the exact same words to me when I first bought my wand. It spooked me how he knew all our names. From behind me, George pushed Ron forward. Ron's ears were red, as I expected them to be. My youngest brother was clearly very nervous. I deliberately clapped him hard on his back, propelling him towards the counter. "Go on," I said. I wanted to laugh; Ron is cute when he's nervous.

Mr Ollivander started to speak again as his long tape measure flitted all over Ron's body, taking in his measurements. My poor brother, he cannot understand how the old wizard remembers the exact specifications of Mum and Dad's wands; even he did not bother to find out what the cores of our parents' wands are. It is very uncomfortable to find out that someone else knows more about your family than you do yourself.

Mr Ollivander barked out a command and the tape measure crumbled onto the ground. I sat myself down on the spindly chair just as Fred and George dived for it. I grinned at them and take out my wand to mutter a charm. My bottom is stuck to the chair now, and there is nothing the twins can do to push me off. Ollivander gave Ron the first wand to try and snatched it away immediately. I put my wand away in the back of my jeans and settled myself in for a long wait.

I hate Fred and George! This is the first time that I have entered _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._ They told me that Ollivanders is a "nice witch who will give you a Chocolate Frog before you leave." Bloody hell he's not! He's a creepy old man who breathes down your nose to let you know he had mustard in his dinner last night. I'm going to tell Mum later that Fred and George lied.

Ollivander's creepy tape measure finally finished their job. Thank Merlin! I don't like it; every time the tape measure brushes against my skin, it feels like hundreds of spiders scuttling across me. Spiders. Ugh. I don't like them. I am not looking forward to the first day of school. Fred and George got an owl from Lee Jordan a few minutes after we arrived in Diagon Alley and George told me that Lee's bringing a tarantula to platform nine and three quarters. I've planned to stay as far away as possible from my brothers on that day, but knowing them, they'll come and find me anyway. Something else fell out from the envelop into George's hand and my brothers were excited. I asked them about it but Fred told me to find my own business and mind it.

Mr Ollivander started pulling out random boxes from his shelves. The shelves teetered but nothing fell. Everything must be held together by magic but I'm not surprised. The top parts of our house sway quite a lot too, especially when the ghoul in the attic banged against the pipes a little too hard, but nothing ever falls. Mr Ollivander opened the first box and gives me a wand. _Fourteen and a half inches, ash and dragon heartstrings_, he said. I waved it around like he told me to. I felt incredibly stupid, especially since Fred and George started whispering around my third wand. They must be laughing at me and planning another practical joke on me. They always do that. I'm going to tell Mum afterwards.

Mr Ollivander pulled out boxes after boxes of wands, telling me each time the details about each and every single wand. That man is a bloody freak! How did he manage to remember every single thing about every single wand in his shop? I really want to get out of here soon. I get hopeful every time he gives me a new wand to try, but then he snatches it away afterwards. He gave me another wand_. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple_, he said. I took it, wishing that this is the wand for me. Phoenix feathers sounded cool. I think that they are the most wonderful creatures in the Wizarding World. And phoenixes are rare. I figure that a wand with a phoenix feather is rarer than any other wands with unicorn tail-hairs or dragon heartstrings. And anyway, I am tired. I just wanted this wand to be it so that I can get out of here as quickly as possible.

I waved the wand with my aching arm and everything happened all at once. Something wheezed through the shop and knocked the boxes off the shelves. There was a loud crash and Charlie yelled. So did Fred and George and Mr Ollivander. I threw the wand I was holding onto the floor and covered my head with my hands, ducking as some bright sparkles raced over my head. It was chaos. Mum had said that we must not blow anything up. She is going to see the smoke when she comes out from Madam Malkin's and we will all be grounded for the rest of our lives.

We cannot take our minds off the little round disc that Lee Jordan just sent us. He said in his letter that we will need a wand to activate it. Fred and I cannot take our minds off it. What does it do? We talked about it as we followed our family through the sea of people in Diagon Alley. Why did we have to wait until we get back to Hogwarts before we can find out what it does?

We were still thinking about it when we followed Ron into Ollivander's. The agony of not knowing what the small disc can do was driving us crazy. We whispered about it in the shop and Fred came up with a brilliant idea. We were not allowed to perform magic outside Hogwarts because we were underage wizards, but Charlie could. If we used his wand, there was no way that the Ministry of Magic could trace it back to us. Bloody brilliant, Fred. The only matter left is us getting close enough to Charlie's wand. My brother had stuck himself onto the only chair in the small shop. Smart. He knew that we would try and get him off it. He's made things a little bit tricky for Fred and me, but I'm sure we could get the wand one way or another.

Fred looked at me and he held out his hand wordlessly. I retrieved the round disc from my jeans and placed it in his palm. I am intrigued; my twin has found a way to get what we needed. Fred winked at me and cautiously approached our older brother. Charlie had a faraway look on his face, the same one that he had on his face all summer. Percy said that it was because Charlie was finally regretting the fact that he had wasted most of his time at Hogwarts playing Quidditch when he should have dedicated his time to preparing for his NEWTS. None of us believed him and Bill agreed with us that Charlie probably found himself a girl at work he's taken a fancy to.

Anyway, Fred crept up behind Charlie and our older brother. He carefully held out the small disc and placed it against the tip of Charlie's wand protruding from the back pocket of his jeans. I watched eagerly. His mouth muttered _Incendio_ quietly and the small disc burst into flames. Fred dropped it. I held my breath; the disc fell and froze in midair. Then it started to spin rapidly and shot away from Fred, emitting bright sparks. The disc knocked into one of Ollivander's shelves and bounced away, but not before knocking over half the contents of the shelf. The long, narrow boxes fell onto the ground. Charlie finally woke from his reverie at the disturbance, forgetting that his bottom was stuck firmly to the chair. He toppled, yelling. Chaos ensued. We're going to be dead for sure; both Fred and I. Mum will see the flames as _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC_ finally succumbed to the Weasley pranksters, and she would be furious beyond belief. But right now, Mum's not here yet, so I might as well join in the fun. Everyone was yelling and Ron ducked to the floor. The fiery disc emitted beautiful sparkling stars. I cheered.

Charlie tried to stand up. It was difficult, considering that he had a chair stuck to his buttock. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Why in Merlin's name possessed him to do that? Something was wheezing around the shop and there was a lot of confusion and yelling going round. He reached for his wand and quickly unstuck himself. Straightening himself, Charlie narrowed his eyes and tried to aim his wand at whatever was shooting around the shop rabidly; he wanted to freeze it.

The light shot straight at him and knocked his wand away from his hands. He watched as it flew through the air. _That's it_, he thought, _my wand will never survive this catastrophe._ His wand continued airborne until gravity finally pulled it back down to earth and landed on Ron's hands (which were still held protectively over his head). Ron grasped it.

Something fell onto my hand and I instinctively grabbed it. It was long and hard so I knew it was a wand.

By this time, Mr Ollivander had pointed his own wand at the unknown flying object and blasted it apart. The sudden silence that followed was eerie. I carefully removed my arms from my head and looked up and saw Charlie. He was furious, and he started shouting at Fred and George. So they were the ones who started this whole fiasco. I sighed in relief and got to my feet, for one moment I thought that I would be blamed for whatever had happened. This whole wand business was taking longer than I had expected. I absentmindedly twiddled the wand in my hand for lack of better things to do. What will Mum say if she came in now and saw what happened? Fred and George are doomed. I can't see Charlie letting them off this hook; Charlie's going to tell Mum.

I restored some resemblance of order to my shop. It wasn't difficult, a wave here and there and my boxes return to their original places. Charlie was still shouting when I was done. I don't blame him; those brothers of his are one of a kind.

I looked from the three older Weasley brothers to the youngest one and I almost clapped in ecstatic delight when I saw what he was doing. He was twiddling a wand in his hand and slowly creating a beautiful swirl of colours. The air about him warmed, and I knew without a doubt that a wand had chosen the child.

"Bravo!" I said, and noted that everyone jumped again. I strode towards the youngest Weasley and took the wand from him, ready to pack it into its box and send it on its way. As soon as I touched the wand though, I frowned. This was Charlie Weasley's wand. Curious, curious, curious. Why did it choose Ronald Weasley?

Charlie Weasley noticed it too. _That's my wand_, he said, somewhat petulantly. I fixed my gaze on him. "Sometimes people change, and they find that the wand that they used to have doesn't suit them as well anymore. But that is very rare." I replied. "And sometimes, the wand chooses another witch or wizard, and that is rarer still."

The door to my shop opened and Mrs Weasley stepped in. I greeted her with my usual greetings and informed her about what had transpired while her sons were in my shop. She was furious with the twins and I could see that she was restraining from screaming at them. But she was obviously delighted to discover that what happened between her second son and her youngest one was something that only happened once every few centuries. I moved to put Charlie's old wand into a box and gave it to Ronald Weasley. He didn't look too happy. I wondered why? What happened today was so exciting.

Mrs Weasley shooed her sons out of my shop while thanking me profusely.

"Wait," I said to them. They turned and I directed my attention to Charlie Weasley.

"Good afternoon, Charlie Weasley. I thought I'd be seeing you soon."


End file.
